Evening Update 08 Feb

French Riviera local news

Court - A man who shot his 33 year-old ex-girlfriend on Rue d’Angleterre in Nice three years ago, is about to learn his fate from the Assize Court. The public prosecutor has requested thirty years in prison, as the killing was not one of passion, but a cold-blooded setting of accounts.

The man jailed for embezzling money from victims of the July 14th attack, has had his appeal decision delayed until February 20th. Last October, Delhomel Vincent, a co-founder and spokesman for the Association Promenade des Anges, was given 18 months in prison, for taking almost €10,000 from money collected by the charity.

Sex Scandal - France's Environment Minister,Nicolas Hulot, has furiously denied accusations of sexual harassment, by the grand-daughter of a famous politician, dating back to 1997. The Minister acknowledged the woman filed a complaint in 2008, but said he had been questioned at his own request, and investigators concluded there was nothing to suggest the case should be followed up, so it was dismissed.

Employment - Students and young jobseekers, are invited to attend a jobseekers forum at the Palais des Festival in Cannes this Saturday morning. Companies will be offering over 1,000 summer jobs in various sectors at the event, which runs from 9am to 1pm, at the Palais des Festivals this Saturday February 10th.

Names - 785,000 babies were born in France in 2016, according to latest figures from INSEE. In the Var, the most popular boys name was Adam, while in the Alpes-Maritimes it was Gabriel. However, one girls name topped the list in both departments, and that was Mila.

BUSINESS

French mobile phone manufacturer, Wiko, have announced they are to sell the remaining 5% of their business, to majority shareholder Tinno from China. Company management say the buyout will not affect the company’s 250 employees here and that they will continue to be based in Marseilles.Wiko are one of the Top 5 selling smartphone brands in France.

The value of sterling has jumped about 1%, after the Bank of England indicated interest rate increases could accelerate, if the UK economy remains on its current track. Economists think the next rate rise could come as soon as May.

Twitter has reported its first quarterly net profit of $91m, for the last quarter of 2017. This compares to a loss of $167m for the same period a year ago. Twitter shares have surged 26% in pre-market trading on the news.

A French court has overturned an EU ruling describing Uber as a taxi company. The French Labour Court has dismissed a case from a former driver, who was trying to be classified as an employee, so he could claim holiday pay. However the court said, as drivers were free to work when they wished, and Uber only offered intermediation and not transportation services, that meant that French drivers could not be considered as employees.

SPORT

Football - Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said, English players may be the ‘masters of diving’. He said he remembers tremendous cases in the UK, where foreign players were accused of the practice, but the Frenchman claims that now the English players have learned very quickly, and might even be the masters.

Quarterly profits are down at Manchester United thanks to a rising wage bill for players. For the three months to December, the club’s operating profit was down 23% on the same period the year before, as wages rose to £69.6m.

Rugby - England have announced the return of Jonathan Joseph to the starting fifteen for Saturday's Six Nations match with Wales. It’s one of two changes, from the side that beat Italy, with the other being scrum-half Danny Care who starts in place of the injured Ben Youngs.